Park power up their defence in bid to reach Championship
ROSSLYN Park are in a “good place” but want to “get better” in the hunt for promotion, says director of rugby Kieran Power.
The National One leaders had won five on the bounce heading into Round 12 and Power, into his fifth year at The Rock, told TRP: “I came in here from getting Ealing promoted and we had a club that wanted to get promoted but had to change a lot of things behind the scenes.
“Now, we’re in a good place. We got a really good squad together before lockdown and the spirit within the team is great.
“Now, we want to try and get better each week as a group.”
The biggest factor in the south-west London side’s strong form is their defence, having conceded just 22 tries in their 11 games. Power says this was the area he aimed to improve thi season.
“One thing we knew from seasons before was that at times we’d take our eye off the ball and teams would pounce and get a couple of scores on and we’d have to wake ourselves up,” he said.
“We built from the back, in the old football analogy – let’s make sure that we’re solid defensively and we could start looking at going forward.
“We knew the players we have in our side but we thought if we can be solid as a squad across the board defensively and know our roles, we’d be a hard team to beat.”
Power and head coach Jonathan Mills have been at the heart of Park for the last three seasons, bringing in some big changes this season.
With Phil Cokanasiga and former Old Elthamians star Austin Hay boosting the squad, London Irish and former Ireland and Lions flanker star Sean O’Brien and former Scotland scrum-half Bryan Redpath have added their coaching insights.
Power added: “We’ve set out our own system of how to do things.
“People like Sean and Bryan, full of character and life, easily fall into our set-up because we’re about the lads enjoying themselves on and off the pitch together.
“It makes sure that when we’re out there in defensive sets, there’s something really worth fighting for – not just in the name of the badge but the spirit we’ve created as a team this season.
“If you get to Christmas and you’re in that top four, you can throw the gauntlet down and have a crack at promotion and enjoy the challenge of being at the top of the table.”